Hello from the Brussels airport!
I know I only promised pictures, but I’m your classic overachiever, so here’s a blog post about Disneyland Paris!
Jordan, Caroline (shout out to Caroline for turning 19 today!!), and I left Metz around 8 AM yesterday and headed for Marne-la-Vallee, a small French town just outside of Paris that is home to the most magical place on Earth.
We had purchased our tickets the day before, and the e-vouchers hadn’t been delivered to us yet, so as soon as we arrived at around 10:30, we checked our emails. Before they would send our tickets, we had to confirm our names, so we emailed them back immediately. But we are very impatient when it comes to magical experiences, so we also called the student discount company we had bought them from. The man in charge who answered the phone asked, “Oh, you’re the Caroline crew? All just emailed me?” Yes, and we would like you to make like a Disney princess and hurry up and send us our tickets, please (wait, what?).
By 11 we were walking into the park, and I was smiling from ear to ear. My mouth was getting dry from how wide my smile was. I felt like a kid again.
We all purchased Minnie Mouse ears before starting the real experience, because we wanted it to be a genuine one.
Jordan and I, being the srat stars we are, had decided to wear our sorority jerseys for optimum picture-taking opportunities, so prepare for a whole lot of ZLAM.
One of my favorite things about Disney is that it’s fun for all ages, and we weren’t even judged (that hard) for being an overly excited group of 20-year old girls.
Our first mission was to walk down Main Street USA towards Sleeping Beauty’s castle, which we did more quickly than we expected. The park is actually pretty small, and even the largest coasters aren’t very tall. The castle especially was smaller than I thought it would be, but all of this just made walking the entire park in a day more manageable.
Next it was time to get riding, so we entered Adventureland in search of our first roller coaster: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril.
Being with friends made even waiting in line fun!
The ride surprised us with a full loop and more excitement than we expected for its relatively small size, and I established myself as the screamer of the group.
Next we headed to Fantasyland to join Peter Pan on his flight through Neverland.
I’m not going to lie, this ride was surprisingly dark and terrifying. It doesn’t help that I generally sleep with a night light because I’m convinced monsters lurk in every shadow I come across, but I wouldn’t recommend this attraction to small children.
Editor’s note: this attraction is listed as a “family fun” ride.
We grabbed a quick lunch across from the classic Dumbo ride and then headed to the Enchanted forest to visit Snow White. I thought Peter Pan was scary? Blanche Niege et les Sept Nains was way scarier. Even the happily-ever-after figurines creeped me out.
Don’t get me wrong, the rides were fantastic and super fun, especially with all the detail that went into them. But I remember going on the Snow White ride in Orlando before it got shut down (I was about 5) and being scared, so some things never change.
Next up? Discoveryland! The line for Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast moved surprisingly quickly, and we entertained ourselves listening to our mission as delivered by Buzz himself.
Not gonna lie, I totally killed it at blasting Zurg and his cronies. No more stealing batteries for them.
It was getting late, but we had time for one more ride: Space Mountain: Mission 2. As far as roller coaster sequels go, it was pretty awesome (although I haven’t ridden the original). I screamed my head off and was pretty sure we were about to run into multiple asteroids and/ or leave the galaxy.
After being such good astronauts, we deserved an ice cream break.
It was almost time to catch our train home, but first we had to hit up the gift shop. On our way over, the Frozen parade passed, and we all belted “Let It Go” along with Queen Elsa (though she was speaking French) at the top of our lungs.
As we boarded our last train of the summer, we all reflected on what a fantastic trip we had had- both that day and over the last three months. I’ve done more than I ever dreamed of doing, especially in such a compact period of time. I’ve seen cities I never even knew existed, and I’ve gained so much confidence in myself, incredible friendships (shout out to the best roommate/ twin ever, Jordan), and memories that will last a lifetime.
Europe has treated me well, but I’m so excited to be home, and in just over 11 hours, I will be! Thank you all for reading and for encouraging me to continue writing these posts- I know I’ll cherish them so much when the details of my trips get hazy.
Bon journée,
Ellie
EBS Abroad 
Looks like you guys had an amazing time!
LikeLike